Open Second Year, New Start Closed

So far, Noah's year was going in the complete opposite direction of perfect. Let's go back a couple hours ago, to when Noah first awoke on his first day of Hogwarts! Bright and early!- Is what he'd want to say, had he not OVERSLEPT and somehow LOST his robe. His lovely abode was, as great as it was, tiny. But once he finally found it, he hadn't the time to worry about how he lost it, and rather needed to get to the train before it left him behind. Thankfully, his mother could drive him to King's Cross Station, and he cried tears of joy once he realised he had a chance of being on time.

Once he reached the station, he said his goodbyes to his mother and Azzy, before sprinting towards his platform. He felt as if nothing could go wrong. At least, that was until he saw children running through a wall. "Yeah, I'm not running through that."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Noah yelled whilst running as fast as he could through the wall His eyes were sealed closed tightly as he pushed through into Platform 9 3/4. Shakily, he opened his eyes, revealing a completely different sight, seeing a colossus train. He sighed with immense gratitude, knowing he did it right. That was until he realised there were barely any other students standing outside, with the many already boarded. He slipped into the train and sighed with relief.

Out of breath, he stumbled into the first carriage he saw. His legs were shaking, and he could feel his breakfast threatening to make a reappearance. He swallowed it back down, desperate to make a GOOD first impression to whoever or whatever was lurking in this carriage. He looked up to see a girl, who looked slightly older than himself, sitting down.

"H-hi. Can I sit here?"

Reducio

ooc: hope u dont mind me joining here, kinda new to rp so pls guide

date- September 1st 2024 location- Hogwarts Express

wc- 215 interacting/mentioning- @Noah Kang

Sage had just pulled a fiction novel out of her bag to set out to read. If all went well, she'd finish it before the train pulled into Hogwarts. Per usual, it was a book on healing. Different from the ones she'd been reading last year, this was more advanced. This was the one that would get her off on the right foot to become a healer someday.

She was so absorbed in her book, however, that she hardly noticed a younger book slide the door open. "Oh, of course! Step right in!" She waved a hand to the seat across from her to guide the kid in.

She set her book down for a second to study him. Dark hair, and eyes she could only describe as bronze. "First year, I presume?" She remembered that first train ride, that first sense of thrill and panic. The emotion that she was truly entering her mum's world. The world her dad wanted her to be anywhere else but in. The world she was blocked from for too long.

She pushed those thoughts back. Better to not lash out at a kid brand new to Hogwarts, if he was the age she guessed. She stuck out her hand. "Sage Willows. Hufflepuff second year," she announced. "And you?"

1st September 2024
“Speech | “Thoughts”
@Sage Willows

Upon affirmation from the scary looking older girl, Noah timorously toddled into the carriage, tucked his trunk away and took a seat, his posture stiff. She had brown hair, cut neatly to her collarbone, and brown eyes. Her skin, pale with a light peach undertone, seemed almost luminous in the light. The girl asked whether he was a first year, to which he promptly nodded. She then introduced herself, "Sage Willows. Hufflepuff second year, and you?"

“Noah Kang, First Year.” Noah responded sheepishly, shaking her hand. It was then that he came to a grim realisation. “Wait, she already knows i’m a First Year. I nodded before. I didn’t need to say that. It’s over. My whole life at Hogwarts is over.” He internally hoped and screamed and prayed that she wouldn’t notice. Talk about a drama queen. Regardless, Noah sat like a wilting flower, his shoulders hunched and gaze fixed on the ground. Soon enough, his eyes drifted upwards, only to see Sage’s le- “Holy Schnitzel?! Where’s her leg gone?!” Almost instantaneously, his mind began racing with ludicrous images about how she lost it. Perhaps she was attacked by a big evil wizard, or got knocked down in a game of Quidditch, or potentially was even in a duel against her fated Hogwarts nemesis rival. “Wow. Hogwarts is so cool…”

He shook the thoughts off and looked back at Sage, remembering about the House System his brother described to him once. “You’re a Hufflepuff? That’s so cool. I want be a Slytherin! Hopefully! Definitely!” Noah exclaimed. His whole family were Slytherin, so it was only natural that he would follow the tradition. There would absolutely NOTHING standing in his way of donning the emerald serpent and being amongst his own kind! Then again, he had an aptitude for failure “Say… uh… how do we choose our House?

date- September 1st 2024 location- Hogwarts Express

wc- 264 interacting/mentioning- @Noah Kang

Noah, the boy's name was. And, as she had presumed, he was a first year. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but tug up as she noticed that he looked slightly sheepish, all in good nature. Had she been that way when she was first going to Hogwarts? Probably. Who wouldn't be?

She flicked through the pages of her novel, glancing up at him on occasion just to see his reaction to the train and everything. She noted his glance at her prosthetic, which she would make no effort to cover or call out. It was what it was. She continued reading, only looking up again when Noah began to speak again. She put her left hand between the pages to mark her spot.

"Yes, that's right. It's a grand house, though not the one I expected..." She paused. Who was she to bring down his excitement about houses? "Slytherin is a good house as well," she said with a nod, "but the sorting hat will always chose the right one."

She smiled again, trying to find a possible way to do the Sorting Ceremony justice. "Oh, Noah! I bet you'll love it. You see, there's this old hat, might not sound like much, but that hat knows where you belong. So, all us older years watch as the hat is put on your head and your house is called out. You join the House's table, and after all the first years are sorted, there's a huge feast!" She'd set her book completely aside, talking animatedly with her hands. "It's a grand time."

1st September 2024
“Speech | “Thoughts”
@Sage Willows

“Not the one I expected? Did she just say not the one I expected?” Noah screamed internally. Surely this wasn’t foreshadowing, right. If Sage didn’t get into her desired house, perhaps he wouldn’t either. Noah sat perched on the edge of his seat, his knees pressed tightly together and his hands clasped in his lap. The air felt thin, like he wasn’t getting quite enough of it, but he forced his breaths to slow, counting silently in his head while she paused. One, two, three. It didn’t help much. He tried not to show his nerves. ”But the hat will always choose the right one.” he repeated mentally. That calmed his nerves down. Noah exhaled slowly, the sound soft. His hands loosened, his fingers unfolding and resting lightly on his knees. “It’s alright.”

However, Noah’s mood quickly rose as she described what was to come. His eyes lit as he heard Sage delineate the Sorting Ceremony to him, and couldn’t wait to partake in the glorious festivity. An old hat, a House table, a huge feast. Despite the whole thing sounding superlatively ludicrous, Noah was like a bottle of coke someone had just shook, with the only thing preventing a fizzy mess was a singular cap. That cap being the notion that he may not make it into Slytherin. No matter. Sage said that the sorting hat would always choose the right one. He could trust in the hat, and everything would go to plan! The grandest of times!

“That sounds spectaculalular!” Noah exclaimed, his tongue stumbling on the ‘spectacular’, but pushing through regardless. He leaned backwards on his seat, looking at Sage with a sort of fascination. A real Hogwarts student; he could see his brother’s fantastical tales coming to life by the second. “I can’t wait!”

date- September 1st 2024 location- Hogwarts Express

wc- 229 interacting/mentioning- @Noah Kang

Was that fear Sage saw on Noah's face? She hoped the boy wasn't panicking too much, she was sure he would love Hogwarts. At least, she loved Hogwarts. But maybe a bit of panic was good, so you could be calm down once you saw how wonderful Hogwarts was or something.

"Noah? Are you okay? You look a bit like you'll be sick." Her brows were knitted with concern for the boy.

She glanced into the hall of the train, wondering if she'd be able to track down some sweet treats. It was then when Sage noticed the train was moving along. She had no idea how much was left in the train ride to school. "Maybe I could try to find us some snacks? If you're hungry, that is. I understand if you aren't, I was too nervous to be hungry on my way here, too."

She couldn't tell if it was her imagination, but she could have sworn Noah perked up when she talked about all the good parts of Hogwarts, so she added more to her tales to hopefully calm any anxieties he might have been feeling.

"I like healing. I got this book," she paused to show off the novel, "to study it. You get to do stuff like that at Hogwarts. Is there anything in particular you're looking forward to studying or learning about?"

1st September 2024
“Speech | “Thoughts”
@Sage Willows

Sage asked if he was alright. Hesitantly, Noah nodded. He thought he was overreacting, and that this wasn’t a big deal in the slightest. Thousands of people have gotten through it, so why couldn’t he? The only logical explanation that he could devise was that he was simply overreacting. Although, that didn’t really explain why sweat was lingering across his skin. It didn’t explain why his throat felt all clogged up and his stomach was sinking into itself.

The train rocked beneath him, cradling him to sleep. Just kidding. Each time the carriage shook, 27 times to be precise, he would once again remember that he was all alone, heading off to the greatest magic school in the world. At least, that what his brother said. Or would’ve said.

"Maybe I could try to find us some snacks? If you're hungry, that is. I understand if you aren't, I was too nervous to be hungry on my way here, too."

His ears perked up at the sound of snacks. On one hand, he felt like if he ate something his breakfast would start knocking upstairs and threaten to make an unwanted reappearance. That would be horrid and ruin any chance of a friendship with the kind girl who offered snacks to munch. After all, who would want to be showered with half digested milk and eggs? On the other hand, chocolate frogs. Need I say more? What a conundrum.

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” Noah acquiesced. The delight of a chocolate frog was too great to turn down. Hopefully he could eat away the fear of failure. Maybe he wasn’t alone.

She started talking about something else, Hogwarts related; a book about healing. He could use something like that to cure his nerves. Anyways, it was her next question that got him pondering. What did he want to study at Hogwarts? He was so caught up in the whole, “Oh nooo everyone at Hogwarts is gonna hate me and I’m not gonna get into Slytherin and I’m gonna be incompetent and super duper far away from home my life is over ahhhhh!!!” … that he forgot the reason why he was so elated when he first received his invitation. He was going to learn MAGIC! He could finally catch up to his brother. “Maybe I am overreacting. Just a little.”

“In particular? Maybe something like Charms. I could go WHAM with my wand, or something!” He said cheerfully, gesturing a ‘Wham’ with his hand. He leaned back slightly, invisioning himself in a Charms classroom, practicing spells, or stuff. What do you actually do in Charms? Charm people? He wasn’t really much of the people type, but it’d be fun. As long as magic was involved. “Oh shoot.” He realised they’d get homework, too. “You know what, if it’s a magical homework, it would probably be fun anyways!” You tell yourself that bud. He wondered if could just get an AI to talk to people instead of himself. It would probably make Charms, scratch that, every lesson way easier. “No! I can’t resort to AI! Who would do such a thing anyways. Haha. Ha. Ha.” He took a deep breathe chuckling, and lightened up a little. “Charms sounds pretty cool. Do you like charms?”

date- September 1st 2024 location- Hogwarts Express

wc- 342 interacting/mentioning- @Noah Kang

A smile broke across Sage's face as Noah agreed to snacks. She nodded and stood. "I'll be right back," she promised.

Sage stepped out of the compartment they'd been sitting in. They'd have to be arriving at Hogwarts soon, she thought. She had chosen to wear a majority of her uniform, the only thing she avoided was the robe. It always made her trip! She'd chosen her favorite sneakers, though they probably weren't the best pick for school. She'd have to change them, too.

In her simple clothes paired with her favorite shoes, Sage tracked down a bit of snacks for Noah and her. Unsure of what he would like, she grabbed some chocolate frogs- you couldn't go wrong with those!- and paid. She carried a few back to their section of the train, peering out the window as she stepped back in. She was sure they were getting close.

Sage handed half of the chocolate frogs to Noah and smiled encouragingly. "I know it may look unappetizing, but try it!" She took a look at her own chocolate frogs and unwrapped it. "I wasn't sure what you'd like, have you ever had these before?"

She reached for her trunk to retrieve her cloak and school shoes, listening to Noah as he spoke. On the cloak went, over her shirt neatly. She tucked her shoes into the trunk carefully, tugging out the others.

"Sorry, just have to change these shoes. We'll probably be arriving soon!"

She smiled at the thought of going back to charms. Charms was a great class! "I enjoy it! It isn't in the top spot on my list, I personally prefer Herbology and I'm trying to enjoy Potions more, but it's fun! You learn some cool charms!"

And just as she was closing the lid to her trunk, she felt the train shift to a stop. She lifted her trunk and faced Noah. "Well, Noah, it looks like we're here. Have a great time at Hogwarts, good luck in sorting! Perhaps I'll see you at another time, yeah?"

Sage has left this thread. Feel free to do another reply!